(The Reminder- Tyler Garnet) With the new year here, Reminder Publishing talked with state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) to discuss his outlook and goals for 2025.
Velis was first elected to the Massachusetts state Senate in a special election in May 2020, was reelected in November 2020 to serve a full term, and reelected in 2022 for a second full term.
Prior to the Senate, Velis served as state representative for the 4th Hampden District in the House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020.
After being reelected again, Velis said he wanted to thank the voters for letting him continue the job he loves.
He said, “I love the job. My belief about public service is that if you get out there, you talk to people, if you constantly are keeping an eye out and an ear out for what people feel is important, show up at events, and you do the work, you will be rewarded. As I always say to people, there might be some positions I take that you might not like but I’m always going to sit down and have a conversation with you. It’s always going to be cordial. We can disagree without being disagreeable and I have found when you do that and you work hard, and you let people know where you stand, that’s what people want in government. I take the work of the people really, really seriously. It’s an honor and a privilege to represent the communities that I do and I’m glad to be back and be able to do it for a couple more years.”
Looking back at his previous legislative cycle, Velis highlighted two bills that were passed that made the previous legislative session “phenomenal.” Those two bills were the HERO Act and Addiction and Substance Use Disorder bill.
The HERO Act is a comprehensive and expansive legislative package dedicated to the welfare of veterans in Massachusetts. Since its filing, additional provisions have been added by the Senate and House to create over 30 provisions, including spending, policy initiatives, tax credits and statute changes, organized into four categories.
Velis, who is a veteran himself, talked more about the bill and said, “The Department of Defense has been on record saying it was the best veterans bill in America this past legislative cycle. I am the author of the Senate version of that bill. Being there, being a part of that, working with all the stakeholders and seeing the governor sign it in to law, to have the governor give me the pen to sign it into law was huge.”
The Addiction and Substance Use Disorder bill, recently signed by Gov. Maura Healey, expands access to overdose reversal drugs, establishes licensure for recovery coaches and limits legal liability for drug users and harm reduction workers who use drug-testing equipment.
Velis talked more about that bill and said, “We’re still losing way too many people to addiction. It’s something that’s very near and dear to my heart. I am a person myself in recovery with lived experience so anytime we can pass a piece of legislation that potentially could make someone live a happy and healthy life, that’s a really, really good thing.
Besides two specific bills, Velis stated he was also proud of the progress that was made with behavioral health.
“There is a behavioral health crisis across the board. Some of the stuff we were able to do in terms of resources, amendments that I filed to bills into the budget for youth behavioral health, kids’ behavioral health were a big deal. I couldn’t be more proud after this past legislative session,” Velis said.
Looking ahead to 2025 and this next legislative session, Velis said the middle class and anything involving affordability in Massachusetts is his “north star” this session.
He explained, “Some of the legislation I have filed, the guiding principle for me is going [to] be does this make Massachusetts and the people of Massachusetts, is this more affordable or less affordable to them? And does it make Massachusetts more of competitive state or less [of a] competitive state.”
Velis explained if the answer to those questions is it’s going to hurt the people or make it so people can’t live in Massachusetts, he is going to do everything to “kill the bill,” but if it makes Massachusetts more affordable and competitive, he will advocate for it.
“We need to get back to the kitchen table issues,” Velis stated.
He further explained, “I’ve long been a believer that the Democratic Party has lost touch in many regards with working class people. We need to do a much better job advocating for the middle class. It’s something that I’ve long advocated for because at the end of the day, these issues that I want to focus on this legislative session are when someone gets home at night, whether they’re talking to their husband, their wife, their mom, their, dad, their brother, their sister, wherever they go and talk to the people they’re closest with, I want to advocate for the issues that they’re talking about.”
Those issues may include the cost of housing, groceries, gas, going to restaurants.
Velis said, “There are any number of issues out there that are important. I would venture to say that every one of my colleagues when they go out and they talk to their constituents, they’re hearing about the rising costs. If we don’t listen to that, we are tone deaf. We need to focus on issues that people are focusing on. We need to rebuild the middle class and that is going to be my overarching themes and priorities this coming legislative session. If it doesn’t involve kitchen table issues, I think it is a second tier issue that we should pay less attention to.”
A message that Velis has to readers and is constituents is that he wants to know what issues and priorities are important everyone.
“If you have an issue that’s important to you, that’s presenting a challenge in your life, please, please, please reach out to me. If you see me at an event, come up to me, introduce yourself, say hello,” Velis concluded.
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